These industries saw a surge of consumers amid coronavirus

As Americans were urged to stay inside, with stay-at-home orders in place in nearly every state in late March and most of April, many businesses faltered as they were forced to shutter brick-and-mortar stores. 

But some industries catering to services people use at home surged as coronavirus restrictions were in place across the country. 

Here are some industries that have seen a surge: 

Guns and ammo

In March Americans bought about 2 million guns, marking the second-busiest month ever in the nation for gun sales, second only to January 2013, shortly after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, according to a New York Times analysis of federal data. 

Yelp reported Tuesday that consumer interest in gun stores was up 191 percent between March 1 and April 19. Yelp rates consumer interest in terms of seasonally adjusted daily U.S. counts of actions users take to connect with businesses on Yelp, including viewing business pages, posting photos or reviews. 

Meal kit subscription services

Leading meal kit subscription services Blue Apron and HelloFresh saw a surge in demand in March, Eater reported, as the shelves of some grocery stores emptied out as Americans stocked up amid the pandemic. 

Stocks for meal kit subscription services also shot up, even as the stock market fell. Blue Apron shares were up 140 percent in midday trading on March 18, and HelloFresh’s stock also rose from $20 on March 16 to $30 by March 25, according to Eater. 

Fitness and exercise equipment

As gyms across the country closed, the at-home fitness industry saw a surge. E-commerce sales of fitness equipment jumped 55 percent in a five-day period ending March 15, around the time states started shuttering nonessential businesses, compared to sales earlier in the month, CBS News reported, citing data from Adobe analytics. 

Adobe found products like dumbbells and free weights were in greater demand than bulkier and more expensive products such as treadmills and rowing machines, CBS reported. 

Video games

Video games have had a surge in users amid the pandemic, based on data regarding the use of video game streaming platforms as well as reported sales of newly released games.

Steam, a popular digital PC gaming marketplace, reached a new height of users in mid-March, drawing a record 20,313,451 users, Forbes reported, citing third-party database SteamDB. “Call of Duty: Warzone” drew 15 million players in days after its March 10 release, according to Forbes. 

“Animal Crossing: New Horizons,” which launched in March for the Nintendo Switch, was the best-selling game in the franchise’s history and the third-best launch for any Nintendo game ever, Venture Beat reported. 

Chinese restaurants

Chinese restaurants initially had a decline in consumer interest, but between March 1 and April 19 such businesses saw an uptick as restaurants shifted to only takeout service, according to the data compiled by Yelp. 

Yelp reported Tuesday that consumer interest in Chinese restaurants increased 63 percent between March 1 and April 19. 

Yelp had reported a 20 percent drop in consumer interest in Chinese restaurants in the first three weeks of February, which the Yelp report attributed to “stigma and fear of the virus.”